Are Specialized Courts the Cure for the Medical Malpractice System?

Updated Jan. 17, 2007 12:01 a.m. ET

Philip K. Howard makes a good case for an alternative approach to medical malpractice ("Strong Medicine," editorial page, Jan. 6). He focuses on the costly and unpredictable nature of the current tort-based system, but the most important benefit that can derive from a reformed medical malpractice system is enhanced patient safety.

Our health-care system is hobbled by a conspiracy of silence that the negligence-based medical malpractice system engenders. Hospitals and health providers hide their mistakes in the...